Hi guys! I just want to say: don't like, don't read. I also just want to thank all the people who review with such positivity because it means so much to me! Thank you guys for helping me keep this story alive. Now, it's time fo rour tenth chapter!

They were okay, they were. Draco would be overjoyed if Harry said "I love you" to him, but he understood if Harry couldn't. His childhood was… horrid. He had almost ran to kill Harry's previous family when Harry had confided in him. Draco couldn't imagine people treating someone so precious so… awfully. Love had been distorted in Harry's childhood, which sadly is a semi-common happenstance. His life had been hard, as Draco's had, but Draco's abuse was emotional and sometimes mental. It wasn't verbal… or physical. Everything went swimmingly from then on, relationship-wise.

"Draco, I can't find my comb." Harry walked into Draco's room that late February evening. Draco looked up, Harry's hair askew.

"I wasn't aware you use one," Draco quipped.

"I'm being serious," Harry groaned. He walked fully into the room, his hair slightly more unruly than usual, if that were possible. Draco honestly loved it this way.

"I am also quite serious," Draco stood from his bed and met Harry in the middle of the room. His heart pounded slightly, how was it that Harry could still give him butterflies? They were looking into eachothers eyes, leaning in slowly. His hand brushed against Harry's cheek, until it rested on the back of his neck.

"Hello, love," Draco whispered, leaning in to kiss him. Harry smiled against his lips. Everytime they kissed was like fireworks, which sounds cliche, but it's true! Draco practically melted into Harry's arms.

"I knew it!" Penelope shrieked from the doorway. The two men jumped apart. Draco's jaw dropped and Harry was blushing like mad. They were stiff, five feet apart now.

"Knew what?" Harry was awfully horrid at playing dumb. Draco began to smirk until he looked over to him. He saw the fear flash in Harry's eyes. He wished he could hold him, tell him that everything will be okay, but he knew that that would only frighten Harry more.

"Harry, it's okay." Draco took small steps towards Harry. He was testing how close he could come before Harry became scared of judgment. He let him come four feet closer. Draco grabbed Harry's hand with a soft smile. It was so perfect between them, Harry didn't want that to go away. Draco was the sweetest, the kindest. He wished he could tell him how he felt, but he couldn't get the words out of his mouth. He couldn't.

"The secret's safe with me, but this is definitely amazing!" Penelope's smile was wide. She was… something. Harry looked between them and calmed a little. Draco and him would be okay. He could relax.

"It definitely is," Draco said. Harry blushed slightly as he looked into his grey eyes. He couldn't believe that Draco felt so strongly about him. It wasn't as if he was oblivious, he only had never been able to fathom such a relationship happening for him.

"I would leave you two alone, but I actually came for a reason," Penelope began. She handed Draco a stack of essays. "You left these in the great hall at dinner, I thought I'd return them."

"Thank you," Draco replied, taking the stack and placing them on his desk. Harry watched him walk, it was always such a sight. Penelope began walking from the doorway.

"I totally ship it," She sang as she pranced down the hall. Draco looked over to Harry, who seemed a little concerned. He felt bad for him.

"Harry, she won't tell anyone if that is what's concerning you." Draco placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, but Harry shrugged him off and sat on Draco's bed. He seemed almost hurt… by something. What something was honestly slightly unclear, Draco just assumed he didn't want her to tell other people. They weren't ready for that. Draco wasn't ready for that either.

"It's not that," Harry sighed. He stared at the doorway, using magic to close it. He sighed as he put his wand down on the blanket beside him.

"What is it, love?" Draco asked. He sat next to the messy haired boy. Harry was about to shrug, but he knew that such a thing wouldn't fool Draco. He would keep prying. Harry wasn't ready for prying right now. He might as well tell the blonde boy across from him and hope that he doesn't laugh.

"It's just, everytime someone finds out, something bad ought to happen," Harry grumbled. Draco placed his hand on Harry's, and gave him a quizzical look. Harry didn't make much sense.

"I'm sorry, are you scared of Penelope? The ray of sunshine who teaches divination?" Draco looked at Harry skeptically. Harry looked at the floor as Draco wrapped an arm around him.

"No, it's just everything's so perfect," Harry sighed. Draco frowned as he got closer and closer to the actual problem. They were close. Penelope couldn't change anything she's… harmless.

"And believing that she is going to ruin anything is utter poppycock." Draco raised his eyebrows at the scared man sitting next to him. His life had been distorted, but he knew that this wasn't going to ruin anything, didn't he? Harry and him were doing amazingly. He loved this boy, why did he think anything could change that?

"Everything I care about gets taken away," Harry whispered. Draco looked at him. This fragile, broken man who had never been given something as simple as freedom to live his life the way he wanted. He couldn't date who he wanted or even have a normal school year because some insane wizard believed in traumatizing this poor boy for personal gain and blood purity.

"Harry, we're not at war anymore. You don't have to be the hero because we can... just be us." Harry leaned on Draco's shoulder. Harry Potter, the boy who lived, did he really still have to fit in the mold created by people like Dumbledore who always seemed to care? Did they care? They probably tried to, but in the end it never was about what's best for Harry. If you expect everything to be well, that cannot be the case because treatment like that leaves people broken into pieces. Don't raise a child to be slaughtered. They broke him because they felt he was the missing puzzle piece. Why couldn't he just have been a normal child? Draco didn't fall in love with him for his fame, but for his normality. Why would someone break such an amazing boy?

The next day, Harry seemed off, which would make sense. However, he seemed to be getting worse instead of better, which greatly concerned Draco.

"Are you alright?" He whispered in the hallway. Neither of them currently had classes on that Saturday morning. Harry was walking at a slightly faster pace than usual and Draco had to work to keep up with him.

"I'm fine," Harry said rather curtly before abruptly turning right, but he wasn't fine. Letters from home had come pouring in since last night. Hermione had said no. Ron was inconsolable. Everything was breaking. Ron's house had caught fire and… Ron almost didn't escape. St. Mungos was currently treating him, but it didn't look good. He was caught in this terrible string of events, and he didn't want to be in it. Everything was falling apart because whenever his life is beginning to go well, it all just has to fall apart.

"Harry, I'm here for you," Draco whispered before deciding Harry needed some space. HIs stiff shoulders and fast pace were a showcase of that fact. That's when he ran into one of his students.

"Professor Malfoy?" He asked, fidgeting with his hands. Draco looked down, a boy with brown hair and hazel eyes met him.

"Yes, Mister Greene?" Draco walked alongside the boy through an empty corridor. The boy was far too nervous to be asking a question about potions, which greatly concerned Draco. He had had some odd questions asked before and he loathed them at times, but at other times they amused him greatly. This seemed to be more of a personal question.

"I need your help," the boy whispered.

"What for?" Draco asked, sitting next to the boy on a cold bench. He fidgeted and looked anywhere but Draco, taking a deep breath. Moments later, he took another deep breath and seemed to calm down considerably.

"I think… I'm fairly certain, um… I'm gay." The boy's eyes showed fear to see how his teacher would respond. He seemed terrified. Draco remembered when he was terrified. He had hoped that the social climate had changed enough since he was a child for people to be able to feel accepted, but it seemed as though it hadn't.

"Does anybody know?" Draco asked softly.

"No, sir." The boy still seemed terrified.

"Well, those who love and care about you will still feel the same. I recommend you tell them, but not until you're ready." Draco gave the boy a smile, who gladly returned it. He remembered that feeling of expecting people to suddenly change their minds about you, but if people were really your friends, wouldn't they feel the same? If they were so quick to change your minds about you, maybe you weren't friends in the first place.

"Thanks, professor!" The boy ran off down the hall with the widest smile on his face. He reminded Draco of being young and so terrified. So fragile. He could only imagine how hard it was for Harry. He would have been stuck if the war hadn't ended. Draco couldn't help but think that maybe Harry was scared because he wasn't used to having something that was purely his and not tainted or affected by war and misery, but just us. It's only us.

Yay! I tried hard on this and I'm sorry if it sucks. Please review *positively*. We love some positivity!

Love and Peaches, Jay Rose